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The Tudors will not last as long as Henry VIII had wives – six seasons, or one season for each wife – but it will come close.

The Tudors will likely last four seasons, Robert Greenblatt, entertainment president of the U.S. pay-TV channel Showtime said over the weekend.

The Tudors’ second season concluded on Showtime last month, and will air on CBC-TV in the fall. Last week, the sprawling historical saga that stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers as the 16th century King of England earned a pair of Emmy nominations, for its casting and costumes. CBC is one of The Tudors international co-producers.

“As we know, the wives are limited,” Greenblatt said. “The first two seasons we did featured a wife per season, but the story will accelerate a little bit after that. The third season will be the next two, Anne of Cleves and Jane Seymour.”

That would be Jane Seymour, the historical figure, and not Jane Seymour the actress.

“I love meeting people who think Jane Seymour, the actress, is in the show,” Greenblatt said. “They know nothing about history.”

The final season, Greenblatt said, “will be the final two wives.”

Greenblatt also confirmed that Showtime will spin off the made-in-Vancouver ensemble drama The L Word into a new series, but he was mum about details.

“We’re still thinking it through,” Greenblatt said. “I’m sure I have a million e-mails already from loyal fans of the show about it, but we’re still in the process of figuring all that out. As soon as we have it nailed down, people will know. We just haven’t yet.”

The actress who will star in the spinoff doesn’t know who she is yet, Greenblatt added.

The lavish historical drama – which takes a fresh look at the life of Henry VIII – returns for a second series. In the opener, divorce Tudor-style is imminent.

As the Catholic Church struggles in vain to control the demands for an annulment by Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, pictured), the King appoints himself head of the Church of England. A cook is blackmailed into poisoning a high-ranking bishop; then boiled alive for his crime.

July 18, 2008 – This afternoon at the Television Critics Association press tour, Showtime’s President of Entertainment Robert Greenblatt was asked how long The Tudors might last for. Said Greenblatt, “I think there’s another two years in it.”

Henry VIII had six wives and the first two seasons used those marriages as season-long story arcs, with each season focused on one wife each – Catherine of Aragon in Season 1 and Anne Boleyn in Season 2. However, Greenblatt noted that the one wife per season rule will change and that, “The next season is Anne of Cleves and Jane Seymour,” and that it’s likely Season 4, “will be the final two wives,” with the series probably coming to an end there.

New babies who arrive in July are being sought to become very young stars of the small screen as producers of The Tudors, filmed in Bray’s Ardmore Studios, look for newborns to star as the heir to King Henry VIII, played by Cork actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers.As history tells the tale, King Henry bore four children, but only recognised his male heir, Edward VI, who was conceived by Jane Seymour and Henry VIII As history tells the tale, King Henry bore four children, but only recognised his male heir, Edward VI, who was conceived by his third wife, Jane Seymour.

The hit show, which is broadcast around the world, is filmed in Ardmore Studios in Bray.

The lucky baby who gets the part as the young Edward VI will be starring in one of the most popular shows ever filmed in Ireland, and will be amongst a strong Irish cast.

Legendary Irish actor Peter O’Toole played the Pope in the last series, and singer turned actress Maria Doyle Kennedy played Henry’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon.

The show celebrated huge success in the past year, Bray woman Dee Corcoran having won an Emmy for costume design.

The programme also won seven of the eight IFTAs for which it was nominated, two Golden Globes and a second Emmy for its title music.